Influence of maize (Zea mays L.) moisture content stored in various compacted multi-layer hermetic bags on seed quality and mycotoxins contamination

The current study was carried out to evaluate the ability of recently developed seed-quality preservation bags. These bags include 3 hermetic (Spanish with anti-fungal material hermetic (SAHB), Spanish hermetic (SHB), and Egyptian hermetic (EHB) bags) and one non-hermetic bag (jute bag (JB)). The bags were filled with 25 kg of maize, sealed, and stored over 12 months or less, depending on seed moisture content. Then, samples were taken out monthly to measure the moisture content, acid value, electric conductivity (EC), oil content, germination, bulk density, and the relative humidity, temperature, CO_2, and O₂ within the bags. Different mycotoxin strain contamination was measured as well. The results revealed that in the hermetic bags, the O₂ concentration decreased to only 7%; the moisture content in EHB was <14% throughout the storage period, whereas it rose above 14% in the other bags. The EC, acidity, and bulk density were lower in EHB and SHB than in the other bags. The relative humidity was higher in the SAHB than in the EHB and SHB, while germination after 12 months was higher in SHB and EHB (>50 %) than in SAHB (<45%) and remained unaltered during the first few months of storage in EHB when compared with pre-storage seeds. The seeds from SAHB had lower Fumonisin and aflatoxin concentrations than seeds from the other bags. These results suggest that EHB is the best among the tested bags in preserving the quality of maize at different moisture contents. However, in the face of mycotoxin contamination, SAHB, despite suppressing mycotoxins, significantly reduced seed quality and so would not be suitable for maize storage.